34 Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge

be dogmatic. For instance, in the Seventh Chapter
Sri Krsna says:

mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhanaiijaya

mayi sarvam idam protam
sittre mani-gand iva

“O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no Truth
superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls
are strung on a thread.” (Bg, 7.7)

Sti Krsna is saying that there is no authority
greater than Him, and this appears to be very dog-
matic. If I say, ‘““There is no one greater than me,”
people would think, “Oh, Svamiji is very proud.” If
a man who is conditioned by so many imperfections
says that he is the greatest of all, he blasphemes. But
Krsna can say this, for we can understand from the
histories that even while He was on this earth, He
was considered the greatest personality of His time.
Indeed, He was the greatest in all fields of activity.

According to the Vedic system, knowledge which
is achieved from the greatest authority is to be con-
sidered perfect. According to the Vedas, there are
three kinds of proof: pratyaksa, anumana and sabda.
One is by direct visual perception. If a person is sit-
ting in front of me, I can see him sitting there, and
my knowledge of his sitting there is received through
my eyes. The second method, anumana, is auricular:
we may hear children playing outside, and by hearing
we can conjecture that they are there. And the third
method is the method of taking truths from a higher
authority. Such a saying as “Man is mortal” is accept-
